Florham Park Catholic helps coordinate law school’s first Eucharistic procession #Catholic – Before Nov. 23, no one at Ave Maria Law School in Naples, Fla., a Catholic institution, had ever seen such a glorious sight: an outdoor Eucharistic procession of 100 young students crossing the campus and praying behind the Blessed Sacrament carried under an embroidered canopy. On that sunny day, Ave Maria Law’s first-ever Eucharistic procession graced Catholic men and women on campus with the opportunity to gather in prayer for the Feast of Christ the King. The event started with Mass and concluded with Benediction. Michael Ippolito, a law student there and parishioner of Holy Family in Florham Park, N.J., proposed the idea and helped organize and participated in the procession. Ippolito, 24, is part of a growing movement of young U.S. Catholics deepening their commitment in strong faith communities. A Harvard University Cooperative Election Study showed a jump in Gen Z Americans identifying as Catholic, from 15 percent in 2022 to 21 percent in 2023, with young men leading the trend. Ippolito’s faith has blossomed into evangelization — bringing Christ into the world — as an active community member and writer. Ippolito said he was “honored” to take part in the procession, helping students celebrate and reclaim their Catholic heritage in public. “It was a moving experience that allowed Christ to be brought to the depths of the law school. The moment captured the essence of the law school’s mission of Fides et Ratio [Faith and Reason]. I hope that the law school will continue this tradition, and continue in its mission of forming great lawyers and Catholic disciples,” said Ippolito, in his second year of law school with a concentration in Natural Law. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Raised in a devout family, Ippolito began his faith journey in earnest in his teens, when “God was an afterthought,” and grew through several milestones. While a student at Seton Hall Prep in West Orange, N.J., he encountered Christ in theology classes and at a men’s retreat, where he spent “intimate time” with him in prayer and worship, and was inspired by the testimonies of students and teachers. “I learned that Jesus loved me and how to bring my faith into the world. It was a ‘Come to God moment’ for me,” Ippolito said. Later, Ippolito found a community of fellow young Catholics serious about their faith as a student of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He experienced a deeper conversion attending the Traditional Latin Mass in a faith that remains constant. “In our generation, nothing is stable. We are told lies about careers and relationships, including non-marital sex. People wrongly say, ‘God is a loving God, so I don’t have to change,’” said Ippolito, who was in the Knights of Columbus at Catholic University. He earned a bachelor’s degree in politics with minors in history and theology in 2023. “In college, I began questioning, ‘Am I living life the way God wants me to live?’” At Ave Maria Law, Ippolito belongs to the Knights of Columbus, Legion of Mary, and St. Thomas More Society. He suggested the procession to Father David Pignato, the school’s chaplain. The priest said he “supports the Catholic revival at Ave Maria Law.” Ippolito also has written about history and contemporary politics from a Catholic perspective for publications such as Crisis Magazine and The Daily Signal to get his opinion “out into the larger conversation.” Growing up, Ippolito attended weekly Mass at Holy Family with his family: his father, Tobi, an internist; his mother, Anne, a master’s degree candidate in systematic theology at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.; his brother, Tony, 27, a medical student; and his sister, Jessica, 23, a college student. Tobi is studying for the permanent diaconate of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey and anticipates being ordained next year. “I’m inspired by the fact that my dad has taken up the duty to serve the Church. His diaconate studies have been a gift. As a family, we are now all closer to our faith,” Ippolito said. Follow Ippolito on @mikeipps and Substack@michaeljippolito  

Before Nov. 23, no one at Ave Maria Law School in Naples, Fla., a Catholic institution, had ever seen such a glorious sight: an outdoor Eucharistic procession of 100 young students crossing the campus and praying behind the Blessed Sacrament carried under an embroidered canopy.

On that sunny day, Ave Maria Law’s first-ever Eucharistic procession graced Catholic men and women on campus with the opportunity to gather in prayer for the Feast of Christ the King. The event started with Mass and concluded with Benediction. Michael Ippolito, a law student there and parishioner of Holy Family in Florham Park, N.J., proposed the idea and helped organize and participated in the procession.

Ippolito, 24, is part of a growing movement of young U.S. Catholics deepening their commitment in strong faith communities. A Harvard University Cooperative Election Study showed a jump in Gen Z Americans identifying as Catholic, from 15 percent in 2022 to 21 percent in 2023, with young men leading the trend. Ippolito’s faith has blossomed into evangelization — bringing Christ into the world — as an active community member and writer.

Ippolito said he was “honored” to take part in the procession, helping students celebrate and reclaim their Catholic heritage in public.

“It was a moving experience that allowed Christ to be brought to the depths of the law school. The moment captured the essence of the law school’s mission of Fides et Ratio [Faith and Reason]. I hope that the law school will continue this tradition, and continue in its mission of forming great lawyers and Catholic disciples,” said Ippolito, in his second year of law school with a concentration in Natural Law.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Raised in a devout family, Ippolito began his faith journey in earnest in his teens, when “God was an afterthought,” and grew through several milestones. While a student at Seton Hall Prep in West Orange, N.J., he encountered Christ in theology classes and at a men’s retreat, where he spent “intimate time” with him in prayer and worship, and was inspired by the testimonies of students and teachers.

“I learned that Jesus loved me and how to bring my faith into the world. It was a ‘Come to God moment’ for me,” Ippolito said.

Later, Ippolito found a community of fellow young Catholics serious about their faith as a student of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He experienced a deeper conversion attending the Traditional Latin Mass in a faith that remains constant.

“In our generation, nothing is stable. We are told lies about careers and relationships, including non-marital sex. People wrongly say, ‘God is a loving God, so I don’t have to change,’” said Ippolito, who was in the Knights of Columbus at Catholic University. He earned a bachelor’s degree in politics with minors in history and theology in 2023. “In college, I began questioning, ‘Am I living life the way God wants me to live?’”

At Ave Maria Law, Ippolito belongs to the Knights of Columbus, Legion of Mary, and St. Thomas More Society. He suggested the procession to Father David Pignato, the school’s chaplain. The priest said he “supports the Catholic revival at Ave Maria Law.”

Ippolito also has written about history and contemporary politics from a Catholic perspective for publications such as Crisis Magazine and The Daily Signal to get his opinion “out into the larger conversation.”

Growing up, Ippolito attended weekly Mass at Holy Family with his family: his father, Tobi, an internist; his mother, Anne, a master’s degree candidate in systematic theology at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.; his brother, Tony, 27, a medical student; and his sister, Jessica, 23, a college student. Tobi is studying for the permanent diaconate of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey and anticipates being ordained next year.

“I’m inspired by the fact that my dad has taken up the duty to serve the Church. His diaconate studies have been a gift. As a family, we are now all closer to our faith,” Ippolito said.

Follow Ippolito on @mikeipps and Substack@michaeljippolito

Florham Park Catholic helps coordinate law school’s first Eucharistic procession #Catholic –

Before Nov. 23, no one at Ave Maria Law School in Naples, Fla., a Catholic institution, had ever seen such a glorious sight: an outdoor Eucharistic procession of 100 young students crossing the campus and praying behind the Blessed Sacrament carried under an embroidered canopy.

On that sunny day, Ave Maria Law’s first-ever Eucharistic procession graced Catholic men and women on campus with the opportunity to gather in prayer for the Feast of Christ the King. The event started with Mass and concluded with Benediction. Michael Ippolito, a law student there and parishioner of Holy Family in Florham Park, N.J., proposed the idea and helped organize and participated in the procession.

Ippolito, 24, is part of a growing movement of young U.S. Catholics deepening their commitment in strong faith communities. A Harvard University Cooperative Election Study showed a jump in Gen Z Americans identifying as Catholic, from 15 percent in 2022 to 21 percent in 2023, with young men leading the trend. Ippolito’s faith has blossomed into evangelization — bringing Christ into the world — as an active community member and writer.

Ippolito said he was “honored” to take part in the procession, helping students celebrate and reclaim their Catholic heritage in public.

“It was a moving experience that allowed Christ to be brought to the depths of the law school. The moment captured the essence of the law school’s mission of Fides et Ratio [Faith and Reason]. I hope that the law school will continue this tradition, and continue in its mission of forming great lawyers and Catholic disciples,” said Ippolito, in his second year of law school with a concentration in Natural Law.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Raised in a devout family, Ippolito began his faith journey in earnest in his teens, when “God was an afterthought,” and grew through several milestones. While a student at Seton Hall Prep in West Orange, N.J., he encountered Christ in theology classes and at a men’s retreat, where he spent “intimate time” with him in prayer and worship, and was inspired by the testimonies of students and teachers.

“I learned that Jesus loved me and how to bring my faith into the world. It was a ‘Come to God moment’ for me,” Ippolito said.

Later, Ippolito found a community of fellow young Catholics serious about their faith as a student of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He experienced a deeper conversion attending the Traditional Latin Mass in a faith that remains constant.

“In our generation, nothing is stable. We are told lies about careers and relationships, including non-marital sex. People wrongly say, ‘God is a loving God, so I don’t have to change,’” said Ippolito, who was in the Knights of Columbus at Catholic University. He earned a bachelor’s degree in politics with minors in history and theology in 2023. “In college, I began questioning, ‘Am I living life the way God wants me to live?’”

At Ave Maria Law, Ippolito belongs to the Knights of Columbus, Legion of Mary, and St. Thomas More Society. He suggested the procession to Father David Pignato, the school’s chaplain. The priest said he “supports the Catholic revival at Ave Maria Law.”

Ippolito also has written about history and contemporary politics from a Catholic perspective for publications such as Crisis Magazine and The Daily Signal to get his opinion “out into the larger conversation.”

Growing up, Ippolito attended weekly Mass at Holy Family with his family: his father, Tobi, an internist; his mother, Anne, a master’s degree candidate in systematic theology at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.; his brother, Tony, 27, a medical student; and his sister, Jessica, 23, a college student. Tobi is studying for the permanent diaconate of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey and anticipates being ordained next year.

“I’m inspired by the fact that my dad has taken up the duty to serve the Church. His diaconate studies have been a gift. As a family, we are now all closer to our faith,” Ippolito said.

Follow Ippolito on @mikeipps and Substack@michaeljippolito